Fallen Leader
by LunaChu97
Summary: Max is sick, and slowly getting worse, the Flock don't know how to help her, so Fang steps up to lead. Fax. T for possible Language.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, the character or the books, and I am not making any money from this fanfiction.**

Set: Wherever you want, probably between books 1 and 2 if I'm honest

Pairing: Fang/Max_****_

Fang's Pov_  
_  
There is a lot of things I hate, I guess. I hate it when Nudge Channel is on 24/7; I hate it when Nudge is quiet as something tends to be wrong in these rare moments. I hate it when Max makes rash decisions, I hate my sometimes overpowering emotions, and I hate not being able to show them.

But most of all, I hate feeling useless. I looked down into our leader's face, her head resting carefully on my clothed legs, dirty blonde hair cascading around them like a halo. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, tanned skin now pale with an unusual red flush over her cheeks. Strangled whimpers escaped her chapped lips now and again from her powerful fever.

Max was sick, and none of us knew how to help.

_**Flashback, Max POV**_

"_Maxxxxxxx...!" Nudge moaned to me, shaking my arm lightly in an attempt to make me agree with her. "Pleaseee? I promise I'll be good! Angel too! I'll ask Iggy and Gazzy not to blow anything up! Please? PLEASSEEEE?"_

Groaning, I held my hands up to my temples, rubbing gently in a vain attempt to cure the pounding headache that had started as soon as Nudge Channel began. This had been going for nearly 30 minutes now, and I could clearly see Fang sat in the corner of our cave, a smug look on his face. Giving him a light glare, I turned to the rest of the flock.

"Ok then, who wants to go to New York? It will be a majority vote, no complaints." This idea of going back to New York City for a small vacation was not my idea of fun; it was too crowded, too risky. Who knows what could be lurking in the shadows of the alleys? However, I was outnumbered as 4 hands shot in the air, all of the owners yelling "Me!" for the vote, even Fang eventually raised his hand, which had surprised me I'd admit. Seemed I was the only one taking safety first. 5 against 1, oh the joys of mutant life

I sighed lightly, rubbing my head. "Ok ok, we'll go. Everyone pack, you have 5 minutes." Once I finished ordering my flock, I sat at the cave entrance. Due to my paranoia I'd never unpacked in the first place, too risky lately in case we were attacked and had to escape quickly.

Once the five minutes were up, we all launched into the sky after a running start, snapping our wings open and gliding ahead. Gaining altitude, we began to shift into a formation, myself at the back of the group. Fang and Iggy flew ahead of us, while the three youngest stayed in the middle. Nudge talked to Angel constantly as they flew beside each other, my baby nodding politely and replying when needed as always. Oh how I wished Gazzy would get between them to stop the constant chatter.

We'd been flying towards New York for a while now, maybe an hour or so, and I was beginning to feel a little...strange. My wings felt weak and shaky as they held my body in the air, each powerful stroke becoming less so. If I wasn't careful, I knew I would begin to lose altitude. My gut was aching strangely, head throbbing in time with my heart beat. Something wasn't right, but I couldn't let the others know that, not after I'd finally given in to their begging. I may not want to go for the vacation, but I wasn't going to ruin it for the others.

I was snapped from my thoughts by a deep yet quiet voice to my right.

"Yo," I quickly looked around to see the owner, seeing Fang of course. He had dropped back from his position and was now flying close beside me, the tips of our wings touching now and again. He stared straight forward, emotionless eyes not letting anything what he was feeling known.

"What is it, Fang?" I asked lightly, shocked at the weakness in my voice, hoping he didn't notice.

"Are you ok?" Damn, he noticed. Even with his monotone vocals, I noticed the taint of concern.

I nodded, no need to get them all worried over what was probably nothing, right? Thankfully, Fang seemed to accept this, and flew back ahead into his position beside Iggy. I saw the two conversing quietly, looking back to me now and again, but thought nothing of it. Probably just gossiping like school girls.

Rubbing my fingers against my forehead, I was shocked to find it very warm, yet covered in a cold sweat. Quickly yet subtly, I checked the rest of my body, sure enough, the cold sweat was all over. I shivered lightly, it now beginning to affect me with the frosty air of the sky. My wings began struggling more, quivering as they tried to hold me up, I had to hand it to them, my beautiful wings had been through a lot in my 14 years, however I wouldn't want them to give up on me now while I was thousands of feet in the sky, wouldn't be the best idea.

I felt my lungs begin to spasm, causing my breath to leave me in short little coughs. They sounded raspy as they passed through my sore throat, making pain flash through the flesh as they did. Fang jumped at the sound and glared at me, obvious he didn't believe my story of being fine now, but what could he do about it? I was leader, not him.

Wow I sounded spoilt then. But it was true!

Iggy glanced around at me now, his sightless eyes boring through me. It was scary how he could do that, but I guess the next round of harsh coughs tipped off my position better.

'Max?'_ My baby's voice rang through my head, only causing the headache to worsen, but I wouldn't allow her to know that her actions had hurt me._

'Yes sweetie?'_ I tried as hard as possible to make my voice normal, although even in my mind is was strained and weak._

'I think we should land, you don't look well..'_ Annoyance traced on my face, Fang and Iggy had likely contacted her and asked her to convince me, fat chance of that happening._

'I'm fine baby, really! Lets get to New York and visit that toy store, ok? I'll even buy you a new bear!' _I had hoped that would distract her away from her personal mission to convince me. It didn't._

'Max please? I don't want you hurt! Family is more important than a teddy!' _As she said this, I smiled lightly, having just watched her cuddle Celeste to her chest subconsciously in front of me._

Suddenly, I felt my mind begin to blur, Angel's voice ringing the same two words over and over.

"Land, Max. Land, Max. Land, Max..." I felt my eyes glass over, beginning to lose altitude as I followed Angel's instructions. I would get her for this, she would be in major trouble for controlling me.

But right now, I was tired, too tired to care that a 6 year old was taking over my brain. My eyes slowly focused on Fang's smug expression as the rest of the flock followed my lowering, I had just enough time to watch his expression change to one of pure horror as my world went black, wings folding behind me and allowing me to fall.

_**(Flashback over)**_

**(AN: So, what do you think? Future chapters should be longer if I continue with this, this is about 1.2k words, my normal chapters are around 2-2.5k if I try hard. Not sure how long this story will be as I don't have a full on plot written out yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Thank you for reading!)**


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